Kiss Her
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: Rick Castle is confused.  Kate Beckett is mad because he DIDN'T kiss her?  Set after "The Deal Pool" but since the last 3 episodes of the season haven't aired yet, they aren't referenced.
1. Chapter 1

**This idea popped into my head when I was watching a poor version of the promo for the LA episode where I couldn't hear much. I thought I heard a guy say "Kiss her!" which I'm now thinking may have been the guy who posted the video. (I was hoping it was actually part of the episode until I saw a clip where I could hear as well as see what was going on) Since it wasn't part of the episode, I decided to change the setting of the story from LA to back in New York. Not knowing for sure what the last three episodes of the season are going to entail, I decided to set this in mid-July and not reference anything past "The Deal Pool."**

**Disclaimer: Oops, I almost forgot this part. This wonderful show belongs to Andrew Marlowe. **

_Kate POV_

"You're mad."

Castle's accusation took Kate Beckett by surprise. Not because he was wrong, but because she thought she had been hiding her emotions so well. She had made sure her poker face was firmly in place. Obviously, somewhere between the party and her apartment front door the mask had slipped.

Still, there was no way she was going to admit it to Castle. "I'm not mad."

True to form, Castle didn't let the matter drop. "Irate, angry, furious, livid-call it whatever you want, but you, Kate Beckett, are most definitely _it_," he insisted.

"Castle..." She really didn't want to go into this right now. Actually, she would be completely content to have Castle never find out what she was, indeed, mad about. No, content was too small of an emotion for this. Happy, relieved, grateful-those hit closer to the mark.

"Beckett, I know you," Castle said, something Kate couldn't really argue. He did know her. Too well. Hopefully, though, not well enough for him to figure things out. "You are definitely bothered by something. And you know me. You know I'm not going to let it go until I know what it is."

Kate sighed. Her earlier anger started draining away. Now she just felt tired. Her emotions had been too close to the surface lately and it had taken a lot out of her to keep them hidden.

The question was how to distract him?

If they'd been in the middle of a case, she could merely mention a tidbit regarding that. No matter how small it was she knew her partner would take it and run with it. But there was no case at the moment.

The other way she commonly drew his attention away from something she wanted to remain a mystery was to simply say something shockingly seductive. That would then get Castle's mind on his libido rather than whatever she might be thinking or feeling at the time.

Unfortunately, that was something she couldn't afford to do this time. It would get his mind too close to where hers had been for the last few hours.

Maybe if she played it off as wounded pride, rather than the unexpected hurt she really felt, she could handle this whole thing without making things worse.

"You had the perfect opportunity, and you didn't take it," she told him. It was vague, as much of what she usually said to him was, but she knew it wouldn't take him long to comprehend what she was referring to.

His eyes widened a moment later. "You're mad because I _didn't_ kiss you?" he asked incredulously.

"You did kiss me," she was quick to correct him. "On the cheek."

Kate needed him to think that she was embarrassed. And a part of her had been. They had been at the Christmas In July party at the Old Haunt (only Castle would come up with something like that, a Christmas party smack dab in the middle of summer, only two weeks after the 4th of July party he had thrown at the Hamptons) when Ryan had pointed out that they were standing under the mistletoe. Kate knew she should have expected such a thing, that she should have located the offending plant before anything else so that she could be on her guard against any such possibility. Instead, she had been focused on making sure that she didn't reveal how strongly Castle's close proximity was affecting her. If only she had known that she would end up revealing much more mere seconds later.

"It was mortifying," she told him. "I mean, you're Rick Castle, playboy extraordinaire. After all those years of flirting, you give me the type of kiss that you would give Alexis! You know everyone was expecting..."

Her half-hearted tirade was cut off when Castle gently but swiftly gathered her in his arms and covered her lips with his own. When his tongue brushed against her lips, tentatively requesting to deepen the kiss, refusing didn't even enter Kate's mind. His tongue's leisurely exploration of her mouth left no part untouched. When he lightly started nibbling on her bottom lip, Kate felt her legs give out. She could do nothing but melt against him, helpless to stop the needy moan that escaped. When his arms tightened around her and he pressed her back against the door, his hands lightly trailing up and down her back as he deepened the kiss even more, what little control Kate had snapped. Her lips pushed back against his and her tongue started playfully wrestling with his. She then swept her tongue against his top lip before their tongues started their playful actions once more.

She had no idea how much time had passed when he slowly released her lips from his, planting multiple little kisses against her lips before finally putting some distance between them.

"That was..."Castle breathed.

"Amazing," Kate completed the thought.

"Yeah," he agreed.

Kate expected that he'd drop his arms from around her, but he didn't. Instead, he remained still, seeming deep in thought.

"Castle?" Her tone was uncertain, not a common thing when talking to him. But it unnerved her that he was so quiet.

"You want me," he finally said, his tone tinged with wonder.

Kate's eyes widened at that. She couldn't dispute his words, not after that kiss. But the man sounded surprised by the fact. She couldn't fathom it. The man had women throwing themselves at him constantly. Why would her reaction catch him so off guard?

Okay, she needed to do damage control, and quick. She wasn't sure what Castle's reaction meant, but the last thing she needed was for him to figure out what _her _reaction meant. An idea popped into her head and she could hardly contain a chuckle at the thought of it. It should definitely work. And after that kiss worrying about where his mind went, or hers either, for that matter, was a moot point.

"You have no idea," she murmured suggestively in the same way she had at the end of that long ago first case. She knew his mind would immediately go back to that conversation, where he had alluded to how good things would be between them if she had allowed them to dive into a fling.

Which, of course, she would never do. Then or now. Any actions she took with Castle would be built on their solid friendship and strong feelings, not mere physical attraction.

She couldn't contain a giggle as Castle's eyes widened in shock. Nerves attacked her, though, when his eyes narrowed in determination. The man was the most easy-going guy she had ever met. His ease with her taking the lead, a necessity when they worked on cases, had spilled over practically since the beginning into every other aspect of their partnership. But there were times, rare though they were, when Castle got an idea in his head and refused to be swayed. She could probably count all of those occurrences on one hand. And each time she had given in. He had that expression on his face now. She was sure that when he said what was on his mind that steely tone would make an appearance, as well.

"That wasn't just an undercover kiss," was what he ended up saying. And she was right, the tone was there.

But wait, what was he talking about? The kiss they had just shared wasn't an undercover kiss at all...

Oh, crap. He'd figured it out.

**Hmmm, I'm not sure if I can truly call this a cliff-hanger. But it's close enough that I've decided to wait to post this until I have the rest of the story written. But since you are reading this, that means that you don't have to wait for the next chapter. Lucky you. I had to wait almost three weeks between the first spark of an idea to today's finished product.**

**Please review. I'd love to know what you guys think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Like I promised, here is the second chapter in record time. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. If I did, I would have my hands on all of the scripts and know everything that was going to be in the next three episodes.**

Castle's POV

_"Kiss her!" Lanie's exuberant command caught Rick Castle by surprise. He knew the M.E. had wanted something to happen between himself and his muse, work partner and best friend, Detective Kate Beckett, for months, maybe longer. But the woman was never quite this blunt about it, at least not with him. He looked over at Kate (he may call her Beckett most of the time, but she'd been Kate in his thoughts for a long time now) and saw that she was every bit as surprised as he was._

_ "Dude, you guys are under the mistletoe," Ryan explained._

_ Both writer and detective looked up and saw that the other man spoke the truth. The green plant hung from the ceiling directly above their heads. Castle gulped, uncertain what he should do. He knew that the crowd that was gathered for the Christmas in July party he was throwing at The Old Haunt wouldn't let matters drop until he kissed Kate. But he also knew that would be the last thing she would want him to do, especially in front of a crowd of witnesses. They had kissed once before (well, twice if he wanted to get technical about it) but that had been a ruse to buy time to save Ryan and Esposito. _

_ Castle looked over again at Kate and was startled to see a flash of vulnerability in her gaze before a look of teasing and challenge replaced it._

_ "Well, Castle, what are you waiting for?" she teased him in a slightly sultry tone._

_ He couldn't do it. The longing to taste her lips again was strong as it had been since he'd kissed her all those months ago. But the glimpse of vulnerability, which he was positive was what she truly felt, made such an action impossible. He would feel like he was taking advantage of the situation, taking advantage of her, and that was something he couldn't stomach doing._

_ So he kissed her on the cheek. The groans from the crowd barely registered in his ears. He had done the right thing by the woman he loved, and that was what really mattered._

The sound of the car door slamming jolted Castle from his reverie. He quickly got out of the detective's car and caught up to her in a few long strides.

Kate didn't turn her head and acknowledge him, as she usually would have. She'd been acting strangely all evening. She hadn't looked at him after the mistletoe incident, just merely walked away. And she'd stayed away from him for the rest of the party. He had been expecting some type of teasing remark about him being chicken, but she hadn't said anything.

He'd been surprised when she agreed to let him see her home, giving no other reaction than the usual roll of her eyes. He knew she could handle herself just fine-she was a cop, for crying out loud-but he wanted a chance to clear the air. It wasn't uncommon for her to be annoyed with him, but this went deeper than that. And this time he had no idea what was wrong.

It wasn't until they reached her apartment door and she opened it with twice as much force as necessary that he realized at least part of the problem.

"You're mad," he said.

Kate's denial was immediate. "I'm not mad."

Castle wasn't surprised that she would deny it, but the truth was so obvious that he wasn't going to let the matter drop. "Irate, angry, furious, livid-call it whatever you want, but you, Kate Beckett, are most definitely _it_."

"Castle..."

Her warning tone didn't stop him this time. He knew if he didn't deal with this now it would just make things a lot worse later. "Beckett, I know you," he said. The story was in the details, and in studying his muse Castle had picked up many details about Kate over the last couple years. Developing a friendship and work partnership had revealed even more to his ever inquisitive mind. "You are definitely bothered by something. And you know me." This was also true. Actually, she knew him better than he knew her, since Castle was more open and honest with what he was thinking than she was. Although he wasn't as forthcoming as he figured she thought he was. Otherwise he would have told her how he felt about her a long time ago. "You know I'm not going to let it go until I know what's bothering you."

The words that came out of her mouth were the last he'd expected. "You had the perfect opportunity, and you didn't take it," she told him.

Castle's mind worked at lightning speed to process what she'd said. She had been fine when she had arrived at the party. It wasn't until they were caught under the mistletoe...perfect opportunity...

"You're mad because I _didn't_ kiss you?"

Why would she possibly be mad about such a thing? It didn't make sense. Not unless she'd wanted him to kiss her...

"You did kiss me," Kate reminded him. "On the cheek."

She seemed bothered by the fact. Castle would have thought she would have been relieved. Instead, she was _mad_ about it? Maybe she really did want...

"It was mortifying," she said. "I mean you're Rick Castle, playboy extraordinaire. After years of flirting, you give me the type of kiss you would give Alexis! You know everyone was expecting..."

Castle had heard enough. She wanted the playboy persona? He could give her that. Well, sort of. There was no way he could ever treat Kate Beckett like a one-night stand, or like a mere fling.

But this time, he decided as he gathered her into his arms, he wasn't going to just kiss her on the cheek. He was going to kiss her the way he had wanted to for months, since that night that he had realized that his imagination hadn't gotten anywhere near the reality of kissing the extraordinary KB.

There was an instant jolt that shot through him the moment their lips met. It was gentle but passionate and his heart rejoiced when she consented to his deepening the kiss after a few brief moments. He could hardly believe he had the lovely detective in his arms. He'd been half expecting that after she realized what his intent was she would have yanked herself from his hold. He couldn't resist the temptation to lightly place little nibbles on her bottom lip. The way that she melted against him with a needy moan hit him equally in heart and body. He instinctively tightened his hold and gently pressed her back against the door, lightly running his fingers up and down her back, deepening the kiss even more. Then the kiss changed, like her regular self-restraint had fled, and she started kissing him back. It wasn't until Castle knew that if he didn't cool things down his tenuous control might snap that he slowly released her lips. Even though it had been a long and thorough kiss, it was still hard for him to break away, and he planted multiple little kisses on her luscious lips before finally forcing himself to pull back.

"That was..." Castle breathed.

"Amazing," Kate finished his thought.

"Yeah," he agreed.

Wait. She had said amazing. That was exactly what he had said after that second undercover kiss. He had covered his blunder, saying that he was referring to the way she had knocked the guard out. But he had seen her take down many other suspects in ways much more impressive than just hitting them over the head with her gun. What had been amazing had most definitely been the kiss.

Suddenly rapid-fire thoughts filled his mind.

She hadn't pulled away.

She had actually melted against him, clung to him, even.

She had actually let out a moan.

She had kissed him back.

She had said the kiss was amazing.

And there was no one in the room pressuring her to kiss him. There was no guard to fool. And yet she kissed him. Passionately.

"Castle?" Kate's tone was uncertain, a rarity for her when speaking to him.

"You want me," Castle realized aloud. He had wondered, after the undercover kiss, if maybe she was attracted to him. But the kisses could be explained away as necessary to get past the guard. So although he had wondered, he had never really known for sure.

"You have no idea," she said in the same teasing way she had after the first case, when he had told her things could be great between them.

That was when it clicked in Castle's head. His eyes widened in shock at the realization. She had done a great job hiding it. He may not have even figured it out if it hadn't been for that moment of vulnerability he had seen in her eyes back at the party.

Her teasing didn't even distract him, as it usually did. And he realized that's what she had been trying to do, distract him. It made him wonder how many other times when she had teased him she had been attempting to hide what she was really thinking and feeling.

This time he wasn't going to let her hide.

"That wasn't just an undercover kiss," he said, no doubt in his mind about the truth of the statement.

The confusion in Kate's eyes quickly gave way to the vulnerable one. Castle hated being the one that put it there, but now that he knew what they were dealing with, he couldn't give up on getting Kate to be open and honest with him. This time he wasn't going to back down.

**The third and last chapter will be up in just a second. Aren't I nice? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So here it is the last chapter. The ending didn't even come to me until last night. If only writing and reading a story took the same amount of time. Only a few days left until the LA episode. Writing this has made the waiting easier to handle.**

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to put one of these in each chapter? Probably not, but to be on the safe side, I do not own Castle, I'm just a devoted shipper.**

_Kate's POV_

Kate was at a loss at how to handle the situation. She may have been able to come up with something if her lips weren't still tingling from the kiss and if her body hadn't been screaming at her to repeat the experience. Or if the intent look in his eyes hadn't made it so hard to think straight. Because at the moment the steely glint in his blue orbs reminded her of the moment right before he'd first kissed her all those months ago.

Then he lifted his hand and cupped the side of her head, his fingers tangled in her hair the exact same way he had right before that first kiss. "It." he said in that determined tone before covering her lips with his and kissing her _the exact same way _as that first time. Like before, he pulled back after a few moments. Kate didn't have time to catch her breath before he continued, "Was." He then touched her lips with his own and gave her the same type of kiss again. Kate was barely able to bite back a whimper of protest at the loss of contact when he pulled away. "Real." He finished. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next. And she was right. Once again, the kiss matched the undercover one; but this time, it matched the second rather than the first.

That did it. There was only so much a woman could take. She was done fighting it. She was done hiding it. Her heart wanted Castle. No, more than that, her heart _needed_ Castle. She had known that in her relationship with Josh she had kept one foot out the door. What she hadn't realized until this exact moment was that her whole relationship with Josh had been her way of keeping one foot out of the door with Castle. Having another relationship had kept her from taking the risk of diving into things with the man she really longed for. So the question was, was a relationship with Rick Castle worth the risk?

"Yes," she moaned at the same point in the kiss where she had let out a small moan before, a response both to her question and his.

Unlike the first time, Castle was the one that pulled away from the kiss. The stunned but hopeful expression on his face gave her the added courage she needed.

"It was real," she whispered. When it looked like Castle was about to say something, she put a finger to his lips. "Please, I need to say this." At his slight nod, she began to explain. "You have no idea how long I've had to fight the temptation to kiss you. When I realized what your plan b was for distracting the guard, part of me wanted to run and another part of me was relieved there was finally a legitimate excuse. And then I almost lost my focus, almost forgot about Ryan and Esposito. If the guard hadn't reacted the way he had, if that hadn't been enough to distract me, I don't know how long it would have been before I remembered the real reason for what we were doing.

"And then, tonight. I was terrified I was going to give too much away. It's gotten so difficult to hide my emotions lately that I wasn't sure how much self-control I'd be able to maintain. But when you only kissed me on the cheek, I started to wonder if all of the flirting, all of the innuenendoes, didn't really mean anything. I'd let myself start to hope that you were feeling the same way I was, but then I started to think that maybe I was wrong, that maybe you didn't want me after all."

"You're kidding, right?" Castle asked incredulously. "There is no way a man could not want you. Least of all me"

"Castle, I'm not just talking about physically," Kate was quick to point out.

"Neither am I," Castle said. "I don't think you have any idea how special you are to me. I would do anything for you, Kate. And there are only three people I can say that about: you, my mother, and Alexis. I know you often think of me as acting like a kid on a sugar rush, which sometimes I do. And other times you see me as this playboy out to get as many women as I can, which is highly exaggerated media hype. More than any of that, I am the man who loves you."

"I love you, too, Rick," Kate whispered, hardly able to get the words out through the lump of emotion in her throat. Needing the closeness, the comfort of his arms around her, Kate closed the little distance between them and rested her head against his chest with a contented sigh. Finally they were on the same page.

**So there you go. (I just realized that's what Kate said after telling Castle about watching Temptation Lane. I think a lot of their way of saying things has crept into my everyday speech-and writing. That's a good thing, though-it makes it easier to write their dialogue that way.) I just need to make sure I watch out for that when I start writing my own stuff again.**


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